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J. A. THOMAS FIRE FIGHTING APPARATUS. APPLICATION mm SEPT. 24. 1917.

Patented Dec. 9, 1919.

' i e srarus PATENT err ron.

JOHN a. mamas, or communes, onro, assienor. re rnn J. A. rnorms comrm,or

' COLUMBUS, OHIO, A 00 BPORATION OF OHIO.

. FlIBE-FIGHTING' APP-fihATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed September 24, 191?. Serial No. 192,910.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it lmown that I, JOHN A. THOMAS a citizen of the United States,residing at l'umbus,

in the county of Franklin and State of Ohio, have invented certain newand use- 1 Improvements in Fire-Fighting Apparatus, of which thefollowing is a s ecification.

This invention relates to fire ghting apparatus and has particularreference to that type of a paratus employing a chemicahzed stream orextinguishing a fire. Spe cifically, my invention is an im rovement overthe structure claimed in my atent No. 1,152,452, issued September 7,1915.

In the resent invention, 1 have aimed to arrange the parts in. a morecompact form, in order that considerable less space will be utilized inmounting the same upon a mobile truck.

The present invention also has for its object, the introduction of wateri nto the mixa ing chamber from a point on the discharge side of thepump,

'thlS being accomplished by means of a valved conduit, the chamber endofthe conduit being provided with an ejecting nozzle having a pluralitypf opposed jets, one of WlllClI e ects the fluid mto the underlyingchamber and the other jet extends upwardly, whereby the liquid forcedout of the upper jet will revolve a conveyer, to discharge a suitablequantity of a powdered chemical into said chamber.

A further object is to provide the mixing chamber with automaticallyoperating mechanism so situated that when the chamber becomes filled toa predetermined level, the mechanism will be operated to shut oi thesupply of fluid to said chamber.

A still further object is to provide apparatus of this character whereinthe mechanism employed is of a purely automatic character, reliable inoperation and not likely to become out of order.

The preferred embodiment of my inventionis shown in the accompanyingsheet of drawing, in which similar characters of reference describecor-responding parts, and in which:

Figure 1 is a central vertical section shown somewhat diagrammaticallyof the pump and the mixing chamber in their proper relation.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view, taken along the line 22 of Pi 1.

eferring more particularly to the draw mg, the pump A comprises a casing'1 having a purality of inlet therewith and dispose in any desiredmanner. The casing is so formed interiorly that a passageway 3 isprovided therein leading from the inlet pipes 2, said passageway beingconnected y an opening 3 with the rotor chamber of the pump and situatedwithin said chamber are two rotor members- 5. These rotor members aremounted upon shafts 6 and one of them is driven in any desired mannerand from any source of power,

Patented Dec. 9, 1919. n

.p11 as 2 communicating v the rotors thus intermeshing so that onedrives the other. The wall 7 in connection with which these rotors ocrate, are of a size and shape to closely t the projecting teeth of therotor, so that pockets 8 are formed in which the water is forced aroundsaid rotors and ejected through the discharge opening 9. At this point,the discharge connecting element 10 is attached,

said element being utilized to convey the water to a hose or any otherelement of use.

Directly above the discharge point 9, there is provided a by-pass pipe11, in the form of a valved conduit and in which is interposed a handcontrolled valve 12 and a float actuated valve 13. This conduitleads anddischarges its contents into'the chemical mixture container 14:, byproviding the container end of the conduit with an ejecting nozzle 15,said nozzle being provided with vertically opposed jets 16 and 17. Thusit will be seen that when the pump is in a state of operation, a fluidwill be forcedthrough the conduit 11, when the valves 12 and 13 areopen, and discharged by means of the nozzle 15 into the container 14.

In order to feed a chemical such as sodium bicarbonate in properproportions to the container, use is made of which the conduit 11extends, and secured to the u per end of the casing is the lower funnels aped discharge end 19 of a chemical containing hopper 20. The end 19of the hopper has rotatably mounted therein, a screw conveyor 21, whichhas a shaft 22 thereof extended to receive a spiral 23, the latter beinglocated within a housing 24 rig idly mounted within the casing 18. Thusit will be evident that the fluid discharged from the jet 16 will strikeagainst the spiral 23 and will thereby cause the rotation of the shaft22 and its associate feed conveyer 21, so that a suitable quantity ofchemical contained Within the hopper 20 will be automatically introducedinto the contalner 14. A damper door 25 is rotatably mounted within thedischarge end of the screw conveyer housing and is provided withopenings adapted to register with similar openings formed in the webbedextremity 26 of said discharge end 19, whereby upon rotating the dampermember 25, the extent of said openings may be readily adjusted to governthe flow of the chemical therethrough.

Water ejected from the nozzle end 17 s forced into the container 14,whence it is mixed with the chemical from the hopper 20, and when thechemicalized fluid within the container reaches a pre-determined level,the flow of fluid thereto is automatically cut off. This is accomplishedthrough the provision of the valve 13 in the conduit 11 which has thestem 27 thereof provided with an operating link 28, to the end of whichis suitably secured a ballmember 29, said stem operating through anopening 30 provided in the top 31 of the container 14, the ball member29 being thus positioned within the container. Thus when the fluidarises to a point near" the top 31, the stem 37 will be elevated by theball member 29, so that the internal mechanism (not shown) of the valve13 will be actuated to obstruct the flow of fluid through said conduit,as will be clearly understood.

Leading from the lower end of the container 14 1s a lower valved conduit32, which is provided with a manually operated valve 33 and with a checkvalve 34, the latter permitting fluid to flow but one way through theconduit 32. The end of said conduit terminates Within a casing 35 andleading from said casing is a discharge nozzle 36, which projects intothe pump casing and terminates within the opening 3, whereby thecontents of the container 14 will be discharged in a position, to becaught by the rotors 5 and thoroughly mixed with the outgoing fluid.Formed in the casing 35 is a nozzle element 38 which communicates withthe pi e 39 extending from the conduit 11 and W ich has a valve 40provided therein. It will be seen that fluid will be discharged underconsiderable pressure from the ejecting element 38, into the nozzle 36and this action will create a suction so as to facilitate the flow offluid from the container 14 to the nozzle 36.

From the foregoing apparent that I have provided a type of fire fightinga paratus wherein the proper proportions etween the chemical and 'waterdescription, it will be ment 38, which a device wherein the objects ofthe the advantageous lating valve in one t eatre have been automaticallysecured, and in an apparatus wherein the several parts thereof areautomatically controlled. in operation, when the rotors 5 are in'a stateof rotation, water will be drawn from the inlet pipes through the pumpand discharged into the connection 10 and into the conduit 11.

Water passing through the conduit 11 is discharged into the container 14but simultaneous with this discharge the feed conveyer 21 is operated sothat a chemical containe within the hopper 20 will be introduced intothe fluid located within the container 14, means being provided inconjunction with the container to shut off the flow of fluid through theconduit when the water within the container 14 reaches a predeterminedlevel. The flow of chemicalized fluid from the container is perfectlyaccomplished by suction, the same being effected through the provisionof the pipe 39 and the ejecting elecreates a suction within the casingstructure 35 so as to effectively withdraw the fluid from the container14 and to eject it under pressure into the pump structure.

It will thus be seen that there is provided present been achieved andthat all features above mentioned are, among others, present. Theapparatus is extremely simple in construction, easy to operate, of fewand simple parts and not likely to become out of order. By reason of theautomatic features of the apparatus, the same will require practicallyno attention and will necessitate but a minimum of adjustments.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new and patentableis:

1. In a fire fighting apparatus, the combination with a-force pump and amixture container, of a conduit leading fromthe discharge side of saidpump into said container, a second conduit leading from the bottom ofsaid container to said pump, a regulating valve in said first mentionedconduit, means connected with said valve and situated within saidcontainer, whereby when the fluid within said container reaches apre-determined level, the flow of fluid through the conduit will beprevented.

2. In a fire fighting apparatus, the combination with a source of watersupply and a mixture container, of a conduit leading from said sourceinto said container, a second conduit leading from the bottom of saidinvention have container back to said water source, a reguof saidconduits, and a branch conduit communicating with said former, conduitsand provided with means operable to create a suction within said secondconduit to facilitate the flow of fluid, from said container to saidsource. 3. In a fire fighting apparatus, the combination with a force.pum and a im'xture first named conduit and disposed to rotate 10container, of a conduit eading from the said conveyer upon the flow offluid through discharge, side of said pump into said 0on said conduit.-

tainer, a second conduit leading from the In testimony whereof I aflixmysignature a chemical containing hopper communicatbottom of saidcontainer back to said pump, 1n presence of two witnesses.

. JOHN A. THOMAS. ing with said container, a conveyer situatedWitnesses:

within the discharge end of said hopper, and WALTER E. L. Boon, a nozzlecarried by the container end of said Anvm G. SUNDERs.

